Conference Pacific-10 Conference AP No. 4 Offensive coordinator Dan Cozzetto | Coaches No. 4 1996 record 11–1 (8–0 Pac-10) | |
Head coach Bruce Snyder (5th year) | ||
The 1996 Arizona State Sun Devils football team represented the Arizona State University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A college football season. The team's head coach was Bruce Snyder, who was coaching his fifth season with the Sun Devils and 17th season overall. Home games were played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. They participated as members of the Pacific-10 Conference.
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Regular season
In 1996, the Sun Devils went a surprising 11–1, highlighted by a 19–0 shutout of the number-one-ranked, two-time defending national champion, Nebraska Cornhuskers in Tempe, ending Nebraska's 26-game win streak. The upset win also gained a measure of revenge from the previous season, when they went into Lincoln and were not only destroyed by a 77–28 margin, but enraged after the eventual national champions threw a long touchdown pass in the game's final minutes. ASU quarterback Jake Plummer led the Sun Devils, propelling Arizona State into the Rose Bowl against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Had the Sun Devils won, they would have had a very good chance of winning at least a share of the national championship, as they would have been the only undefeated major-college team in the nation. The Sun Devils held a slim 17–14 lead with 1:47 left in the fourth quarter, but surrendered a late touchdown to Ohio State, falling by a final score of 20–17. As it turned out, Florida State lost in the Sugar Bowl to the Florida Gators; had the Sun Devils won a few days earlier, ASU would have had a perfect 12–0 record while the Gators would have finished with one regular season loss (ironically, to the Seminoles).
Schedule
The Sun Devils finished the season with an 11–1 record.
1996 Team Players in the NFL
The following players were claimed in the 1997 NFL Draft.